Sly Cooper and the Framed Friends
by Evangeline Gray
Summary: This is a story that I wrote that takes place after the third game. Sly is working at Interpol with Carmelita.
1. Chapter 1

"Cooper!" a voice called. Sly looked up from his paperwork. Carmelita was standing in front of his desk with a case file in her hands. She smiled when he met her gaze then quickly looked down at the file. "There have been a recent string of robberies down town," she started.  
"And the chief wants us to look into it" Sly continued.  
"Yeah, he wants his two best officers on the case. Let me show you what we have so far." She said as she placed the file on Sly's desk. Inside was information about the robberies and pictures of the prime suspects. Sly's eyes widened in recognition of his two best friends. "Who are these guys?" Sly asked innocently. Carmelita did not seem to notice that Sly recognized his friends that he "forgot" a few months ago when he hit his head.

"The turtle is Bentley; he is incredibly smart and cunning. The hippo is Murray, he is not as smart but he is extremely strong. Both are considered very dangerous. I used to chase these guys when they were a trio but we lost track of the third member and we thought that they gave up their old ways. However, it seems that they have gone back into their thieving business and they have a new third member, a mouse as far as we can tell".  
Sly leaned back in his chair and looked at the case file. Finally he said, "I don't think they did those robberies." Carmelita looked at him in shock,  
"What do you mean!? All the evidence so far points to this gang! These are tire tracks from the turtle's wheelchair and it would take some serious muscle to break through those doors. Not to mention that they were thieves, they know the business."  
"Were", Sly said, "They were thieves until like you said: they broke up and stopped. Why would they start up again?"  
"Well, for the sport of it or maybe they were bored, it doesn't matter!"  
"It doesn't make sense", Sly almost yelled. "Well", he started again in a softer tone, "this is why we investigate, to find truth and justice right?"  
"Right", Carmelita agreed, begrudgingly.  
They took a police car to the scene of the most recent crime. "It looks like something big crashed through the windows here", Carmelita said, pointing at the front of the store, "And look, there are tire tracks going to the safe and scorch marks around it, like it was blown up." Sly looked at the scene for a moment then said,  
"I still don't think it was them." Carmelita gave him an incredulous look. "I read their file and it said that they were big on stealth. This is not what I would call inconspicuous."  
"You've got a point, but it was their other member that was the sneaky one. They have two demolition experts and the other one would be able to break down that wall by just running at it. They're still our only suspects." They both looked around the scene for a while but did not find anything suspicious. On the way back to the police station Carmelita asked Sly if he wanted to go out for dinner.  
"I'd love to, but I've got to do the paperwork for this case. Tomorrow we'll go out, anywhere you want, I promise." Sly responded.

"Alright", Carmelita said as she dropped Sly off at the police station, "I'll see you tomorrow Sly". As she pulled away, Sly went back into the police station and got out the files on Bentley and Murray

_I know that these guys would not start thieving again. _Sly thought. _I left them with more than enough money to last them a lifetime. They also didn't enjoy thieving the way that I did. Well, they did not like the close calls with Carmelita. I wonder who would be doing this. It doesn't matter; I will stop whoever is framing Bentley and Murray. I have already put them through enough. _After a while of looking for any clues in the case files, Sly decided to call it a night. He went to the safe house to get some sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

A week went by and things seemed to quiet down. There were no more robberies and Sly hoped the police would drop the case when Carmelita came over to his desk.  
"We found the suspects. They've been hiding out in the area under assumed identities. I knew that they were close by; they used to have safe house around here. We've tried to find it, but we were never successful." Sly suppressed a smirk. "They were picked up earlier and they're down stairs. I'll go interrogate them." She continued.

"I'll go with you," he said standing up. Carmelita looked at him nervously.

"No, I can handle this one; I've run into these guys a couple of times before."

"Then let me learn from you," Sly said. Carmelita was not comfortable with letting Sly see his friends, but how could she stop him without telling him that she had been lying. Sly and Carmelita went down to the interrogation rooms. They entered the room with Bentley and Murray. Murray's face lit up when he saw Sly but Bentley's face remained still. Carmelita watched Sly carefully, for any signs that he recognized the suspects.  
"Alright we know that you have been behind these robberies", Carmelita said as she put pictures of the crime scenes on the table. Bentley adjusted his glasses as he looked at the pictures.

"I'm sorry, Inspector Fox," he said in his nasally voice, "We don't know anything about these." Carmelita slammed her fists on the table and shouted,  
"All the evidence points at you two, we know you're reforming your gang and-"  
"Carmelita", Sly interrupted, "Let me handle this". Carmelita's tail twitched with worry that Sly would get his memory back from talking with his old friends but she left the room to let her partner take the lead.  
"Sorry, my partner can get a bit excited." Sly started looking at friends, "So, I hear your old gang split up and you stopped your thieving. Why don't you tell me what you have been up to?" Bentley looked at Sly with a hint of a smile on his face and started, "Well, uh, Mr. Cooper is it? I can assure you that we are not behind these robberies. I have been busy at work on a new invention. If you need to be sure you can ask my friend Penelope, we've been working together on it".

"And 'The Murray' has been busy at the racetrack", Murray chimed in, "smashing the puny cars with my righteous van! You can check the race log".  
Carmelita watched the three of them in the other room from behind the one way mirror.  
_Why aren't they trying to convince Sly that he was their friend?_ She thought, _why are they pretending that they don't know him or do they not recognize him._ _No they must, what's going on?  
_"I will check your alibis to make my partner feel better but I believe your stories." Sly said.  
"Mr. Cooper", Murray said, taking Bentley's lead, "do you have anything to eat down here, I'm starving"  
"Sure" Sly left to go to the vending machine. Carmelita joined him in the hallway.

"You still believe them?" Carmelita asked, "They're thieves and liars and I think that they're up to something."  
"Oh come on Carm, they seem like nice guys, why don't you give them a chance"  
"Because they are criminals!"  
_You seem to trust me,_ Sly thought as he bought Murray a candy bar and a pack of gum.

"Bentley", Murray said after Sly left the room, "Why are we acting like we don't know Sly?"  
Bentley sighed, "It looks like he's happy here pal, I don't want to ruin this new life for him."  
"I miss him"  
"Me too, me too."  
Sly and Carmelita came back into the room and gave Murray his candy which he ate happily and quickly.  
"Thanks", he said when the wrapper was licked clean.  
"Do you have any more questions for us inspector?" Bentley said.  
"No", Carmelita said, "We don't have any more questions, but maybe I'll think of some while you spend the night in jail." Bentley and Murray shared a look. Bentley had never been in jail and the last time Murray was, he almost killed his friends. Sly had an almost indiscernible look of concern on his face. Carmelita led the two suspects to the holding cell and locked the door.  
She went back up to the offices but Sly stayed behind.  
"Guys", he whispered, "what are you doing?"  
"Waiting for my phone call", Bentley said  
"What, it's me, Sly".

"Shh, we know but we want you to lay low."  
"Thanks guys, you're always looking out for me, it's all for one and one for all still right?"  
"Right, and I was serious about that phone call, I need to call Penelope"  
"Sure thing pal, the phone is over there", Sly unlocked the door and let Bentley go over to the phone. Sly turned his attention to Murray, "Hey, how are you doing?"  
"Fine Sly, and thanks for the gum", Murray said blowing a big bubble. Sly chuckled as the gum got stuck to Murray's face and he struggled for a moment to remove it.  
"No problem, I'm sorry that Carmelita was so rough on you guys."  
"We're okay", Bentley said returning to the cell, "And we'll be okay tonight. Carmelita will let us go free tomorrow and life can go back to how it was before we were brought in. You don't need to worry about us." Sly looked unsure but knew that his friends were right.

"I've got to go now, it was great to see you guys, I hope we can get in touch soon. I'll come and see you again before you're released tomorrow."  
"Thanks Sly", Murray said, "hey do you think you can get some grub sent down here?" Sly smiled at his friend and nodded as he went up to the offices.


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning Sly went back down to the holding cell to see his Bentley and Murray.

"Hey", he called.

"Who's there?", a voice answered. Sly looked into the cell and found not his friends but a dirty looking zebra. Sly was shocked that his friends were no longer in the cell.

"Sorry wrong number", Sly muttered as he ran back up the stairs, "Carmelita, where did those guys from the cell go?"  
"I let them free this morning, why?"  
"I just wanted to make sure that hippo got something to eat, he seemed kind of edgy"  
"I couldn't hold them any longer. There's a new guy in there, I think his name is Kevin. He was brought in earlier." Sly knew that it was for the best that he didn't push his luck, sneaking to see his friends but he wished he could have seen them one more time.  
"Hey there's been another robbery at the bank", the chief called, "Just five minutes ago, Inspector Fox, Constable Cooper, you go down and check it out!"  
"On it!" they responded together. They hopped into the squad car and rushed down to the scene. The doors of the bank were broken open and there were tire tracks all over the floor, just like the other places. However, this time, Sly noticed a paw print in the soot from the explosion.  
"Carm", Sly called, "Look over here. This print doesn't fit anyone in that gang."  
"No it doesn't. It looks like a rabbit print. Let's get a picture of it." Sly and Carmelita looked around the bank for a little while until a nightclub owner arrived on the scene.  
"Hey, what uncool cat would do this to me? Grief! This is making twice now that my nightclub is kaput. Who will want to come to club next to crime scene? My beautiful Black Chateau Deux is ruined!" said a purple lizard.

"Hello", Carmelita said, "I am Inspector Carmelita Montoya Fox and this is my partner Constable Cooper. You must be...?"  
"It is I, Dimitri, cop lady, hey I know you; you put the hurt on Dimitri and locked him up, twice. And cracker-box Cooper is cop-?"  
"Yes, I remember you let me talk to you over here." Carmelita said as she led Dimitri away from the scene. "Listen to me lizard, do you know anything about what happened here?"  
"No, Dimitri was at home getting his sleep on."  
"Right, well thank you for your time, contact us if you have any information"  
"Contact Dimitri if you want more information, dig?" Carmelita rolled her eyes, turned away from Dimitri and went back to Sly.  
"Who was that guy?" Sly asked when Carmelita returned.  
"He's just some low life that we met up with a while ago. We had him in custody in Italy until the guys we just set free let him go. I heard he's turned good though. I'm still going to keep my eye on him. He used to run this spice operation here but he seems harmless now."  
"He seems crazy to me. Did he call me a cracker-box? He sounds like he just stepped out of a bad  
music video."  
Back at the police station Sly and Carmelita checked the paw prints of all the rabbits in the area. "Nothing seems to match up." said Carmelita angrily when the pile of possible rabbit suspects kept getting shorter.  
"We'll find him I promise. Hey, I know something that might help, I'll be right back", Sly said kissing Carmelita on the cheek as he ran out the door. She watched him leave wondering what he could be up to. Sly rushed down to the race track where the logs that Murray gave him were from.

"Hey Sly! Um, I mean Mr. Cooper. What are you doing here?" Murray called in surprise.

"It's cool; you can call me Sly here, Murray. I just wanted to talk to you and Bentley about the robberies you're being framed for."  
"I've got to get ready for my big race now but you can go talk to Bentley. He's better at putting things together anyway. You can go talk to him at his office, it's the building down the street that says: 'Bright Ideas' on it."  
"Thanks Murray," Sly went down town and found the building that Murray had pointed out. He went inside and found this huge lobby with electrical equipment and machine pieces all around. He went over to the desk and said,  
"Excuse me,"  
"Oh, don't mind the mess, we just moved in and haven't gotten it all together yet", the young mouse said as she turned around, "but can I help-", Penelope stopped short when she saw Sly. She ran around the desk and threw her arms around him. "Sly! I'm so happy to see you. What have you been doing? Where have you been?"  
"Slow down Penelope. I've been working at the police station with Carmelita."  
"Police station? You let Bentley stay the night in jail? Why didn't you let him free?"  
"We were acting like we didn't know each other so I could stay a cop."  
"You still could have gotten him the nice cell". Sly smiled at his old friend and partner in crime.  
"Penelope, I would love to catch up with you but I need to talk to Bentley. Is he around?"  
"Yeah, he's in the back, I'll call him". She went over to the intercom on the wall and pushed some buttons then spoke into it. "Bentley, you have a visitor, please come to the lobby." Bentley wheeled out of the back room.  
"Sly? What's going on? Shouldn't you be at the police station?" Bentley said when he saw Sly.  
"Listen, Bentley, I need to talk to you. Carmelita and I found a paw print down at a bank next to Dimitri's nightclub."  
"Dimitri, I thought he was a diver? Who let him have a second nightclub? Anyway, what did you want to talk about?"  
"I want you to do some research about this print. We can't find anything about it down at the station. It's driving Carmelita crazy and I want to clear your name."  
"I'll do what I can but I can't promise anything. You had better get going, you don't want Carmelita to see you here."  
"Thanks Bentley, it was great to see you Penelope." Sly left the building unsure what he would tell Carmelita about where he's been but glad he got to see his friends again.


	4. Chapter 4

"Where have you been?" Carmelita asked Sly when he got back, "I've looked through all the suspects none of them match"  
"I've got somebody on the lookout for more rabbits that may be behind this, you don't need to worry." Sly said, avoiding her question. He sat down at his desk and started to do some paperwork. Carmelita looked at him for a moment trying to figure out if he was hiding something from her and what it could be. Sly looked up and smiled.

"What are you doing", he asked.

"Wondering what you're up to. You didn't answer my question. Where were you?"  
"I'm not up to anything. I was out finding the best person to help us with this case."  
"Who?"

"Am I one of your suspects, inspector? Does it matter who, I found the guy and he said that he'd help isn't that enough?"  
"Fine", said Carmelita, not totally at ease with what Sly was up to, "if you need anything I'll be in my office." Sly knew that Carmelita would have more to say about this but he was glad to have a moment of peace. He had to find a way to tell her that he knew about his past and that he was faking his amnesia without her feeling betrayed. Carmelita sat down in her chair and stared out the window. She was worried that Sly had been in a shadier part of town and might run into some old thieving buddies. She had to find a way to tell him about his past before he heard it from someone else and picked them over her.

"Penelope", Bentley said, "I can't find anything about this rabbit print." Bentley had been rolling around his office for hours, thinking about who would frame them and why they would slip up now.

"I made it as fast as I could", Murray said, crashing through the front doors. "The race took longer than I thought."  
"It's okay; I haven't been able to think of anything." Bentley, Murray and Penelope went into Bentley's office and sat around the table inside. They sat there looking at the picture Sly had left.  
"Ugh, I can't think of anything", Murray grumbled. "This just doesn't make sense".

"You're right pal, this doesn't make sense. I haven't been able to figure out what this could mean."  
"Do you think the print was left for the police to find?" Penelope asked.  
"Maybe, but why? Do they want us to find them? They must know who we are, they've been framing us. How could they know that we would find it? What would they expect us to do? Is the clue for Sly? There are just too many possibilities!" Bentley put his head down on the table in exasperation. Penelope patted him comfortingly on the back.  
"I wish that things would go back to how they were, with just all of us hanging out", sighed Murray.  
"I know what you mean", Bentley said, raising his head from the table slightly, "things were so much easier when we knew the bad guy and I had all the information on my computer. Who would do this? I just can't think under these circumstances! We need to talk like the old times, to just sit around and talk. That's it, Murray, call Sly, we need to have a meeting."  
Sly was still busy with paperwork, when his phone rang. He picked it up and a heard a bad French accent on the other line.

"Bon Jour. Zis is un persion zat wants you to come to ze building at ze down town at ze now." Sly would recognize Murray's attempt at French anywhere. He poked his head into Carmelita's office.  
"Hey, I may have gotten a new lead on the case. I'm not sure if it will go anywhere and two may blow the deal. I'll let you know what happens when I get back." Carmelita opened her mouth to say something but Sly was already leaving the station. She knew that she had to tell him about his past when he got back. Sly went back down to Bentley's office and went straight to the back room. The four of them talked about what all the clues could mean. Soon they were talking about their old adventures. They even talked about their old 'Cookie Steelin' Plan'. Then Bentley got an idea. He went over to his computer and hit some buttons.  
"Yes, it may be coming together. Murray can you go to the closet and get my projector? Hm we may need police help with this one." Bentley said his nose in the computer.

"Wait, before you explain, there is something I need to do, can you wait a few minutes?" Sly said getting up.

"Yeah, we'll wait for you to get back." Bentley responded

"Where are you going?" Murray asked.

"I'm going to do something that I should have done a long ago." With that, Sly left Bentley's office. As Sly went back to the police station, he knew that he had to tell Carmelita he knew about his past. He could not keep going behind her back. He wanted to work with her not around her. He went up to her office and raised his hand to knock on her door.

"Inspector Fox, Constable Cooper has just returned", a voice from the intercom crackled.  
"Thanks", she said back into the box. Carmelita got up and opened her door. Sly was standing in the doorway, about to knock.  
"Carm,"  
"Sly", they both started at once. They shared a moment of awkward laughter. Carmelita let him enter her office and shut the door.

"Ladies first", Sly said taking a seat on Carmelita's couch. She sat down next to him and avoided his eyes.

"Sly, there is something I need to tell you", she said looking at the couch, "but you have to promise me you won't be upset."  
"I could never be upset with you", he said lifting her face so she would meet his gaze as a feeling of dread filled him.

"Well, I'm going to just say it.", she said looking down again, and took a deep breath "I lied to you a few months ago when you hit your head. You weren't my partner, you were a thief. The famous Sly Cooper from the Cooper gang, from a long line of thieving Coopers. Please, don't be mad that I was hiding that from you. I just said that you were my partner so we could be together." She looked up and saw that Sly was smiling.

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about. I never had amnesia. I pretended to lose my memory so we could be together. I didn't want to tell you, so you wouldn't feel betrayed by me." Carmelita was smiling now too. Then a look of confusion swept over her face.

"That explains why you were looking out for Bentley and Murray but why did they pretend to not know you? Didn't they want you back in the gang?"  
"Of course we all want to be together and friends again but they knew that I was happy here and didn't want to take me away."  
"So you chose me over your old gang?"  
"Well, I didn't want to keep playing cops and robbers. It was the perfect chance to stop playing games and start over with you. I'm just glad that you felt the same way and wanted me as your partner. You had always said that I would make a good officer." They smiled, remembering a long ago night, not far from where they sat now. "This is not all that I have to tell you. The person who I've been meeting is Bentley. He has always helped in the past and when I saw him here I thought that he could help with a break through. It turns out I was right. He found out who was behind all this and we could use your help."  
"Aiding criminals? This sounds like the old days." Carmelita said with a smile, remembering their old adventures.  
"Come on, Bentley wanted to talk to all of us down at his office" Sly got up, took Carmelita by the hand and led her down town.


	5. Chapter 5

When they got to the office, there was a slide projector set up. His old gang was already there sitting in their usual places. Sly sat down at the table, Carmelita sat next to him, the lights went dark and Bentley's theme music started to play. Carmelita looked around the room for the source of the music but nobody else seemed bothered by it.

"Alright," Bentley started, and it felt like old times for all.  
"So we know that Murray and I have been framed for a recent string of robberies. We have all been stumped as to why someone would have tried to frame us. I tried to think of all motivators and I kept coming back to jealousy. We have many things that other people would desire: a great fortune, reputation, and especially attention. We have had the attention of just about everyone, even since we were kids. When we stole those cookies almost everyone was interrogated. We were the first three to be questioned. Of course, we were never pinned with the blame but, there was one person there that wasn't even questioned. He never did get much attention by anyone. He even tried to join our gang once."  
"Wait, you mean that weird kid?" Sly asked.  
"'The Murray' is confused by your vagueness. Who are we talking about?"  
"You remember the bunny, Chad, the one who was always hovering around us when we were kids, but we blew off?" Bentley said, putting up a picture of the gang from the orphanage. "Look, there in the back, there is a bunny." They all looked at the bunny in the back who was looking at the gang. "He found me on the thiefnet. He had been emailing me. He said that he knew us from the orphanage, but I didn't remember who he was. After he emailed me a few times, I told him that I had no idea who he was. That was just before the robberies I haven't gotten another one from him. At least I think that it's him. Look, his screen name is CDB25. Those are what I remember his initials to be."  
"Wow, that's kind of creepy that a guy would hold a grudge for that long.", Sly said, taking a closer look at the picture Bentley had up.

"It's not as if we haven't dealt with something like this before, Clockwerk wasn't exactly big on forgiveness." Bentley said.

"Okay, now we know what we're dealing with and why, but Bentley, do you know where Chad is?"  
"That's where I was hoping Carmelita might come in. I'm sure after days of searching Penelope or I could have found his address somewhere on the computer but time is of the essence!"  
"Can't you just look on his thiefnet profile?"  
"No, he didn't put it on line."  
"So you need me to exploit my police connections and help find some rabbit that may or may not be the one framing you, who are criminals that are wanted in multiple countries so you can clear you name of petty robberies?"  
"Yes, pretty much"  
"I'm not sure if I can do that."

"Carm, if you don't then I will. But, I will need special clearance and the chief would have to get involved. It would become a big deal, just to track down a screen name."

"I'll look up the screen name, but that's it."

"Thank you." Bentley said.

Sly kissed her forehead. "This means a lot to us."

"You'll owe me more than just that." She grumbled, giving Sly a discontented look.

He laughed; "Anything you want, after we catch the bad guy."  
"Sly", Bentley said as they went back into the lobby, "Penelope and I have saved this for you."  
They went over to a plant against the wall.

"Er, thanks guys, I always wanted a ficus"  
"No, no", Bentley said hitting a button on his wheelchair, "it's behind the plant." The wall moved with the plant attached to reveal a dim hallway. With a nod from Bentley, Sly went down the hallway.


	6. Chapter 6

Sly went down the hallway and came to an open room. There was an intricate set of lasers from wall to wall. Sly skillfully jumped through them. After he weaved through the lasers he saw four attack robots hovering around. He snuck behind one and remained out of sight. He slipped silently behind the next and ran behind the third when they were looking in separate directions. He jumped on the top of the third and leapt into the next area. There he saw spot lights hanging from the ceiling. He knew that he couldn't go through them. He spotted a pipe on the wall and deftly climbed it. He hopped across the tops of the spotlights and landed carefully on the other side. It was like nothing had changed. At the back of the wall there was a massive safe. Sly smiled, _Bentley made it almost too easy_, he thought. He didn't know what all the trouble Bentley went through was for but he was excited for the challenge. He pressed his ear against the safe and began to twist the knob. "A little to the right, left, back right and..." click. The safe popped open. Inside was his old thieving gear. Sly marveled at the sight for a moment. He reached into the safe and picked up his cane. He felt the familiar wooden shaft, dented with a legacy of memories, the weight of the metal tip, shaped in the sign of his family. After Sly had lifted it, an alarm went off. _I knew that couldn't be it_, Sly thought, putting the rest of his gear in his pouch. As he ran away from the safe, he put his hat securely on his head. The once stationary spot lights had turned red and were moving. Sly rolled in between the lights when they shifted. When he was almost clear of the last one, his tail did not quite make it and it got a little singed. He did not have time to be too concerned with the state of his tail since there were two more robots and it appeared that every corner of the room was being watched. He darted behind the first one and with his cane, ripped the wiring out of the back. He did the same with the next two robots. He was making his way behind the next, when its head swiveled around and spotted him. It came at him but with a swift blow from his cane, he stopped the robot. The noise attracted the attention of the last robot and that one came at him, shooting lasers. Sly avoided the robot's shots and noticed a hook, hanging from the ceiling. He hooked it with his cane and swung over the robot. When he was behind it he ripped out the wires, stopping it as well. _The number of lasers must have doubled when the alarm went off_, Sly thought. He knew that he could not jump through them the way he had when he first entered. He saw some wall hooks to his left and used them to climb up to a platform. He then Para-glided down to the other side of the lasers. He ran out of the hallway before Bentley could send some other danger at him.

"Bentley, what's going on?" Carmelita asked after Sly went down the hallway.  
"Penelope and I have constructed a holding place for his old gear but we made it heavily guarded, that way if anyone else tries to get to it, they won't have a chance." Carmelita looked concerned. She knew that Sly was talented, he had evaded her capture for years, but he didn't know what he was walking into.

"You wouldn't hurt him, would you?" she asked.

"No, it's designed so only a master thief can get past. The only ones with the abilities necessary are Coopers." Just then an alarm went off. "Well I guess he got to the safe, he should be back soon."  
They sat in the lobby for a couple minutes when Sly came back out of the missing panel in the wall.  
"Wow, you guys really protected my stuff, thanks." He said inspecting his tail. I wasn't damaged, only was very tip had gotten in the light. The group stared at him for a moment. He was wearing his old gear again and he was the thief they all remembered.  
"So", Bentley said, "We need to get to Chad and get him to stop this madness and clear our name. Carmelita, do you think you could do the research on Chad?"  
"I'll go to the station right now to start research." She got up and started walking to the door.

"I'll come with you," Sly said, as he caught up to her.  
Carmelita and Sly went back to the police station and looked up Chad in the police records.  
"Sly, I've found a couple of bunnies with the initials CDB, can you look at the pictures?"  
"Hmm", Sly said leaning towards the monitor, "This one looks like him, although, I can't be sure I haven't seen him in years."  
"It looks like he lives right outside of town! I guess we should have broadened our search."  
"It doesn't matter now, we found him, let's tell the others what we know." Sly picked up the phone and called Bentley. He told the turtle everything they found out.

"Good, now all we need is someone to talk to him. If he sees one of us, he'll bolt for sure. Maybe, if we can get him into town then corner him we can get him to confess to the crimes! How?" Bentley asked.

"What if Carmelita talks him into going to Dimitri's nightclub? I don't think he would know either of them. Then, we could get in without him noticing and confront him!"  
"Sounds like a plan, I'll call Dimitri, and you get Carmelita to Chad." Sly hung up the phone and turned to Carmelita.

"No," she started, having overheard Sly's conversation, "I'm not talking to that bunny."  
"Why not? Don't you want to catch the criminal?"  
"First of all, I have _my_ criminal right here. Second of all, I have three more criminals down town. All Chad has done was gotten revenge on some kids. You four have stolen and destroyed so much more in so many more countries."  
"Look, if we get this guy, all of us stop thieving. You never have to worry about finding a Cooper calling card in any more safes. We can put all of that behind us and move on."  
"Fine, I'll talk to the rabbit, but this is the last thing time I'm helping The Cooper Gang and you still owe me." Sly smiled as he walked back to his desk. He knew that she would help The Cooper Gang again; she was as much a part of them as he was.


	7. Chapter 7

"Carmelita, are you ready to go?" Murray asked when he came into the police station.  
"Yes, let's get this over with." Murray and Carmelita got into the Cooper Van and they went to find Chad. When they were a couple of blocks from his house, Murray stopped.

"This is as far as I can take you. We don't want him to see the van." Carmelita hopped out and walked the rest of the way to Chad's house. She walked up to his door and knocked.

"Hello, I'm here advertising The Black Chateau Deux down in Paris, and I was wondering if you'd like to come to the grand reopening tonight" Chad started at her for a moment before responding.  
"Um, sure as long as you'll be there."

Carmelita forced a smile and said "Of course, so, I'll see you tonight?"  
Chad nodded. "I can't wait."  
Carmelita turned around and walked back to the van. When they got back to the police station Carmelita found Sly.  
"I've got Chad to agree to come tonight."  
"Great, now we can be ready for the big set up tonight. Did Bentley tell you the rest of his plan?"  
"Yes, everything is set. This will all be over soon."  
***********************************************************************************

"Wow, all this place needs is a giant peacock", Sly thought, looking at Dimitri's new nightclub. He darted around the back of the building, going unnoticed by any unsuspecting patrons. He saw a pipe on the building next door and scaled it quickly. Once he was on top of the roof, he jumped across the gap, onto the top of the Black Chateau Deux. He slid the glass in the skylight aside and gently lowered himself into the building. Chad was on the ground floor, talking to Carmelita.

"I'm so glad that you could make it," Carmelita said with a smile. Sly crept down to the main floor and got into position behind a pillar. He noticed the harpoon Dimitri used in the shark attack. The caption underneath it read: this is harpoon of Reme Lousteau. Only the most greasy sweet, like me, may touch it. So keep your paws off.

"Alright," Bentley's voice crackled in Sly's ear, "do you have a visual on Chad?"  
"He is in my sight, Blizzard," Sly responded.  
Bentley sighed, "not this again, (tick, annoyed scoff) focus! Carmelita should be distracting Chad. Is he looking away from the door?"  
"Yeah, Carm has got him distracted." Sly mumbled.

"Jealous, are we?"  
"Just do your job!" Bentley rolled into the club and hid in a crowd of people. Murray came in wearing a dress and a blond wig, and then sat at a table.  
"Are we all ready? Okay, I'll give Carmelita the signal to ask Chad to sit in a booth." Bentley made a bird call that only attracted the attention of the people around him. He lowered his head into his shell slightly and sighed.  
"Bentley, I'll signal Carm," Sly said while moving toward Chad and Carmelita. On his way he swiped a hat and glasses that were not being carefully monitored. He went behind Chad and nodded to Carmelita.  
"Hey, do want to get a table? It's getting crowded over here." Chad and Carmelita walked over to a table against the wall in the back of the club. Now that they were out of earshot from the rest of the club, the gang moved in. Sly slid into the booth next to Carmelita, followed by Murray who sat next to Chad and Bentley sat at the head of the table in his chair.  
"Hello, Chad." Sly said, looking up from behind his stolen glasses. A look of confusion and shock crossed Chad's face before he realized who he was sitting with. The shock turned to fear and Chad swallowed.  
"H-Hey guys, what's up. It's been so long since I've seen you." Chad said.  
"Oh, not much, we have been getting into a bit of trouble with the law. They seem to think that we have been involved in some robberies down town, but we all know that, that's not true." Chad shifted uncomfortably in his seat.  
"I don't know what you're talking about. Although I know that you all have a reputation."

"It's true, we have done some thieving in the past but we gave up those ways almost a year ago. I know that you've been following us. That you've been watching our thiefnet profiles and forming your plan!" Bentley said.  
"You're crazy!" Chad exclaimed, "You can't prove any of this and besides, who would believe a bunch of criminals?"  
"I would," Carmelita said, showing Chad her badge. At that moment Chad slipped under the table and pushed Bentley's wheelchair backwards. The motion knocked Bentley out of the chair and left him helpless on the ground. Chad ran for the doors.

"Bentley, are you alright?" Murray asked.

"Don't worry about me! Get Chad!"

"We'll get him," Sly said as he and Carmelita ran after Chad. The club goers looked around in a confused panic.

"Do not be worrying, my lovely club comers," Dimitri said, standing on a platform, "All things are fine, forget that and give Dimitri your money! Let's dance!" The people started dancing again and Dimitri went over to Bentley and Murray. "Turtle dude, the bunny, he is not greasy sweet, as I am. Is the hurt on you?"  
"I'm fine," Bentley responded as Murray put him back in his chair, "It's a good thing that I always wear my helmet." Murray and Bentley got into the Cooper Van, parked out back and rushed to find Sly and Carmelita.  
Chad raced down the street, pushing people out of his way as he ran. Carmelita chased after him, shouting that he should stop. Sly had taken to the roofs and was getting ready to jump in front of Chad. Chad rounded a corner and thought that he had lost the two. He looked behind himself and slowed just enough that Sly was able to overtake him. Sly jumped down from the roof top and landed in front of Chad. While Chad was still looking behind himself, Sly swung his cane and knocked Chad to the ground. He looked up at Sly with anger as he tried to get up.

"All I ever wanted was to be friends with you, for you to notice me! Do you know what it's like to be ignored by everyone? I thought that I'd use my power of being ignored to do some justice! You've never been caught for a crime so I just helped the odds catch up to you!"  
"Dude that is messed up!" Sly exclaimed. Chad lost his temper and charged at Sly. Sly jumped out of the way and Carmelita came from around the corner and tried to hit Chad with her shock pistol. Then the Cooper Van came flying around the corner and Bentley jumped out of the back with Murray following from the driver's seat.

"Chad Bunny, don't move, you are under arrest!" Carmelita shouted as Chad tried to run again. He came running at Carmelita. She stunned him with her shock pistol and Sly knocked him away from her towards Bentley and Murray. Murray caught him and Bentley hit him with a sleep dart.  
"Nice work, guys," Sly said with a smile while Chad was lying on the street. Carmelita handcuffed him and she and Sly put him in the back of the van. Murray drove them back to the police station and Carmelita put Chad in a cell.  
"Good detective work," Sly said giving Carmelita a hug.  
"I knew you were innocent the whole time," she said to Bentley and Murray. They all laughed. They thought that everything could be better now, that they would have a happy ending. Little did they know that Chad was busy trying to sneak out of the jail while they celebrated.


End file.
